Penguin Michael Joseph snares ‘emotionally gripping’ novel by Lea in two-book deal

Penguin Michael Joseph has snapped up two new novels from Caroline Lea, author of The Glass Woman and The Metal Heart (also Penguin Michael Joseph).

Publisher Jillian Taylor acquired world rights to both novels from Nelle Andrew at Rachel Mills Literary. The first of the two, Prize Women, will be released in hardback, e-book and audiobook in spring 2023. A second novel will follow in spring 2024.

Prize Women reimagines the true story of "one of history’s most shocking episodes", the Great Stork Derby of 1936, when women were asked to bear children in order to win a fortune.

The synopsis reads: “Mae Thebault is a glamorous free spirit, ever confident in how her life will unfold. Lily di Marco is shy and thoughtful, an outsider in the bustling city of Toronto. When their paths cross, Mae and Lily become inseparable, living under the same roof and caring for one another’s family.

“Yet the lives of both women change overnight as the Great Depression grips the country. With mouths to feed and no money coming in, cracks in their friendship begin to show. When a millionaire’s will promises a life-changing sum of money to the woman who can produce the most babies within 10 years, newspapers dismiss it as a vanity project. Yet for Mae and Lily, it may be their only chance for survival. But if only one woman can win, what will it cost the other?”

Lea, whose book The Metal Heart was a Waterstones Scottish Book of the Month in spring 2022 and whose The Glass Woman was shortlisted for the Historical Writers Association Debut Award, said: "I feel privileged and delighted to be working with the brilliant Jill Taylor at Penguin Michael Joseph again.

“Prize Women felt like an important novel to write, both because of the shocking true story that inspired it and in terms of its relevance today. I’m so excited to share my novel with readers and hope it will add a poignant new perspective to current conversations on reproductive rights."

Taylor commented: “Conversations around motherhood and women’s bodies have never been more urgent, and to see the Stork Derby through the eyes of Lily and Mae is an unforgettable reading experience. 

“Alongside a poignant love story, this is a novel about the lengths we go to when those we love most are threatened, the ways in which we judge ourselves and one another for the choices we make, and how hope keeps us moving forward.

“As emotionally gripping as it is thought-provoking, Prize Women is the sort of novel that lives in the heart and mind long after the final page has been turned. Caroline has created something exceptional, and I cannot wait for readers to discover this story.”